Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39500843›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2025

Association Between Medical Debt and Vaccine Uptake in the USA, 2021-2022.

Kathryn E W Himmelstein, Amir M Mohareb

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Kathryn E W HimmelsteinDivision of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. kathryn.himmelstein@bmc.org.ORCID 0000-0002-6631-9781
Amir M MoharebDivision of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

Funding

PROGRAM FOR AIDS CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING (PACRT)T32AI007433 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI MARK J SIEDNER · 1992 to 2026
$11.4M
Simulation Modeling of Hepatitis B Virus Elimination Strategies in Cote d'IvoireK01AI166126 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI Amir Mohareb · 2022 to 2026
$679k
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases K01AI166126National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases T32AI007433NIAID NIH HHS K01 AI166126NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI007433
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany individuals do not receive recommended vaccines, increasing infectious disease morbidity and mortality. It is unknown whether the financial practices of US healthcare institutions contribute to vaccine hesitancy.

objectiveTo determine whether medical debt is associated with low vaccine uptake.

designCross-sectional analysis of the association between medical debt and vaccine receipt. SUBJECTS: 56,373 adult participants in the 2021-2022 National Health Interview Survey.

interventionsPresence of medical debt at the time of survey administration. MAIN MEASURES: We used logistic regression models to assess whether medical debt was associated with recent vaccine receipt, adjusting for sociodemographic, health, and access-to-care variables. We performed a sensitivity analysis restricted to individuals with health insurance and conducted a falsification test of the hypothesis that current medical debt would not be associated with remote prior vaccination (i.e., > 1 year prior, likely before debt acquisition). KEY

resultsIndividuals with medical debt were less likely than those without such debt to receive any recent vaccine (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.76-0.91), including influenza vaccination (aOR 0.83, 95% CI 0.75-0.91) or COVID-19 vaccination (aOR 0.79, 95% CI 0.69-0.91). Analyses limited to insured individuals had similar findings (aOR for any recent vaccination 0.79, 95% CI 0.72-0.88). In the falsification test, current medical debt was not associated with remote prior vaccination (aOR 1.04, 95% CI 0.93-1.16).

conclusionsCurrent medical debt is associated with lower likelihood of recent vaccine receipt in both insured and uninsured individuals. Policies that minimize medical debt may improve vaccine coverage.

Indexed as

VaccinationVaccination HesitancyAdultAgedCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMedical DebtMiddle AgedUnited StatesYoung Adultmedical debtvaccine hesitancyvaccine uptake

Identifiers

PMID39500843
PMCPMC12119394

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.